The setting was a serene, the mood a mix of joyful and somber, as New York Fire Department families gathered at Arrow Park on Saturday, Oct. 4. There was music, dozens of balled rhododendrons and fir trees ready for planting, crafts for children and massage therapy for adults. Most of all, it was a break from the daily reminder of the horrors of 9/11, a day to enjoy changing autumn colors for the families of New York City firefighters who lost their lives at the Twin Towers.
Although it”™s called Arrow Park, the 75-acre property in the town of Monroe is technically owned by a private Ukrainian association that is in the final stages of turning its property over to the OrangeCounty Land Trust.
“Don”™t ask me how we came up with the name,” said Manya Simak, the association”™s president. More than 60 years ago, her parents and hundreds of other Slavic families from New York”™s lower East Side pooled their money and bought the 488- acre property, growing at one point to nearly 2,000 shareholders, who used it as a summer getaway. Their numbers have dwindled, and Simak has been working with the Orange County Land Trust and PalisadesInterstate Park Commission to broker the sale. Today, it is the final piece of a complex jigsaw puzzle of purchases, acquisitions and conservation easements that will be the crown jewel for its fundraising proponents.
For the past seven years, families and members of New York”™s Bravest have come to the serene property on Orangememorial plantings for loved ones. This year, more than 50 rhododendrons and small firs were rowed across the lake on the property and planted by families and survivors. A tree was planted in memory of Paul Newman, whose charitable company, Newman”™s Own, was one of the Park”™s financial supporters. Turnpike to take part in
The Land Trust, through the dedication of members like Paul Dolan, ABC”™s executive director of information and cable business development, says Arrow Park will become a national center for first responder families, for nonprofits that deal with the physically and mentally handicapped and for combat veteran groups. The property has been used as a summer camp for more than a decade by Calvary Hospital and by groups from Northern Ireland for children who have lost a parent to cancer or war.
Eve Bucca of Tuckahoe, who sits on the Sterling Forest Advisory Board, as well and Paul and JoAnn Dolan of Greenwood Lake, spoke to the more than 150 family members and local officials who came to celebrate what has been a long and technical process of purchasing the former Slavic retreat. “When Paul (Dolan) contacted us and said the group was interested in purchasing our property as a place to help grieving families, we couldn”™t say no,” said Simak.
Orange County Executive Ed Diana told the group more than 9,000 acres of open space has been preserved through the OrangeCountyLand Trust. “This year, we have $1 million in our 2009 budget for preservation included. It”™s less than what we have pledged in the past, but we are dealing with challenging economic times,” said Diana. The county, says Diana, has committed to set aside $21 million over the next decade to preserve open space.
The total of $5.9 million purchase price  of the entire Arrow Park “It will be a national center for trauma, grief and recovery, with a focus on nature, native arts and music. We”™ve had children from Northern Ireland visit and CalvaryHospital has been very involved here. We hope to grow that and truly make it a national center for respite and recovery.” property is in its final stages of funding acquisition, said Dolan, who has worked 16 years on the project.
“As we put more programming in, we hope to spread out and reach as many people as possible,” said Bucca. “Arrow Park is truly a respite for those who have physical, emotional and spiritual wounds.”
Dolan said although the land will be used for nonprofits and trauma victims, the park will be open to the public on certain weekends. Arrow Park”™s shareholders will still be able enjoy the Poet”™s Park they erected during the 1960”™s to pay tribute to Walt Whitman and other noted authors. Most of all, Arrow Park”™s center for healing and recovery will be the first of its kind for New York, one Diana said would not be possible save for the generosity of ABC and Disney, which spearheaded the private campaign to raise the bulk of the purchase price.
“We”™re going to deal with subjects that aren”™t very attractive,” said Dolan. “Suicide, physical and emotional trauma and veterans looking for relief from post-traumatic stress are not exactly ”˜fun”™ subjects, but for those who work with these groups and for the people who use their services, they are going to have a place to address them. For people who are physically disabled, we”™re going to make Arrow a place they will be able to enjoy, as barrier-free as possible.”
